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Regular polygon
A regular polygon is a polygon which is equiangular (all angles are equal in measure) and equilateral (all sides have the same length). Regular polygons may be convex or [[Star polygon|'star']](complex). General properties These properties apply to both convex and a star regular polygons. A regular n''-sided polygon has rotational symmetry of order ''n All vertices of a regular polygon lie on a common circle, i.e., they are concyclic points, i.e., every regular polygon has a circumscribed circle. Together with the property of equal-length sides, this implies that every regular polygon also has an inscribed circle or incircle. A regular n''-sided polygon can be constructed with compass and straightedge if and only if the odd prime factors of ''n are distinct Fermat primes. See constructible polygon. Symmetry The symmetry group of an n''-sided regular polygon is dihedral group ''Dn (of order 2''n''): D''2, ''D''3, ''D''4,... It consists of the rotations in ''Cn, together with reflection symmetry in n'' axes that pass through the center. If ''n is even then half of these axes pass through two opposite vertices, and the other half through the midpoint of opposite sides. If n'' is odd then all axes pass through a vertex and the midpoint of the opposite side. Regular convex polygons All regular simple polygons (a simple polygon is one which does not intersect itself anywhere) are convex. Those having the same number of sides are also similar. An ''n-sided convex regular polygon is denoted by its Schläfli symbol {n''}. * Henagon or monogon {1}: degenerate in ordinary space (Most authorities do not regard the monogon as a true polygon, partly because of this, and also because the formulae below do not work, and its structure is not that of any abstract polygon). * Digon {2}: a "double line segment": degenerate in ordinary space (Some authorities do not regard the digon as a true polygon because of this). * Equilateral triangle {3} * Square (regular tetragon or quadrilateral) {4} * Regular pentagon {5} * Regular hexagon {6} * Regular heptagon {7} * Regular octagon {8} * Regular enneagon or nonagon {9} * Regular decagon {10} * Regular hendecagon {11} * Regular dodecagon {12} * Regular tridecagon {13} * Regular tetradecagon {14} In certain contexts all the polygons considered will be regular. In such circumstances it is customary to drop the prefix regular. For instance all the faces of uniform polyhedra must be regular and the faces will be described simply as triangle, square, and pentagon. Angles For a regular convex ''n-gon, each interior angle has a measure of: : (180-\frac{360}{n}) (or equally of (n-2)\times \frac{180}{n} ) degrees, :or (1-\frac{2}{n})\pi radians, :or \frac{(n-2)}{2n} full turns, and each exterior angle (supplementary to the interior angle) has a measure of \frac{360}{n} degrees, with the sum of the exterior angles equal to 360 degrees or 2π radians or one full turn. Diagonals For n > 2 the number of diagonals is \frac{n^2-3n}{2} , i.e., 0, 2, 5, 9, ... They divide the polygon into 1, 4, 11, 24, ... pieces. Area of a hexagon]] The area A of a convex regular n''-sided polygon having sides of length ''t is: in degrees : A=\frac{nt^2}{4\tan(\frac{180^\circ}{n})} , or in radians : A=\frac{nt^2}{4\tan(\frac{\pi}{n})} , If the circumradius r'' (length of the segment joining the center to the vertex) is known, the area is: in degrees : A=\frac{nr^2\sin(\frac{360^\circ}{n})}{2} or in radians : A=\frac{nr^2\sin(\frac{2 \pi}{n})}{2} , Also, the area is half the perimeter multiplied by the length of the apothem, ''a, (the line drawn from the center of the polygon perpendicular to a side). That is A'' = ''a.n.t/2, as the length of the perimeter is n.t, or more simply 1/2 p.a. For sides t''=1 this gives: in degrees : \frac{n}{4\tan(\frac{180^\circ}{n})} or in radians (''n not equal to 2) : {\frac{n}{4}} \cot(\frac{\pi}{n}) with the following values: The amounts that the areas are less than those of circles with the same perimeter, is \approx \frac{pi}{12} , or about 0.261799, for n<8 a little more (the amounts decrease with n'' to the limit infinity which is 0). If the regular polygon is a Circle then it is obviously 0. Regular star polygons A non-convex regular polygon is a regular star polygon. The most common example is the pentagram, which has the same vertices as a pentagon, but connects alternating vertices. For an ''n-sided star polygon, the Schläfli symbol is modified to indicate the 'starriness' m'' of the polygon, as {''n/''m''}. If m'' is 2, for example, then every second point is joined. If ''m is 3, then every third point is joined. The boundary of the polygon winds around the centre m'' times, and ''m is sometimes called the density of the polygon. Examples: * Pentagram - {5/2} * Hexagram - {6/2} * Heptagram - {7/2} and {7/3} * Octagram - {8/3} * Enneagram - {9/2} and {9/4} * Decagram - {10/3} * Hendecagram - {11/2}, {11/3}, {11/4}, {11/5} * Triskaidecagram-{13/2}, {13/3}, {13/4}, {13/5}, {13/6} m'' and ''n must be co-prime, or the figure will degenerate. Depending on the precise derivation of the Schläfli symbol, opinions differ as to the nature of the degenerate figure. For example {6/2} may be treated in either of two ways: * For much of the 20th century (see for example ), we have commonly taken the /2 to indicate joining each vertex of a convex {6} to its near neighbours two steps away, to obtain the regular compound of two triangles, or hexagram. * Many modern geometers, such as Grünbaum (2003), regard this as incorrect. They take the /2 to indicate moving two places around the {6} at each step, obtaining a "double-wound" triangle that has two vertices superimposed at each corner point and two edges along each line segment. Not only does this fit in better with modern theories of abstract polytopes, but it also more closely copies the way in which Poinsot (1809) created his star polygons - by taking a single length of wire and bending it at successive points through the same angle until the figure closed. Duality of regular polygons All regular polygons are self-dual to congruency, and for even n'' they are self-dual to identity. In addition the regular star figures (compounds), being composed of regular polygons, are also self-dual. Regular polygons as faces of polyhedra A uniform polyhedron has regular polygons as faces, such that for every two vertices there is an isometry mapping one into the other (just as there is for a regular polygon). A quasiregular polyhedron is a uniform polyhedron which has just two kinds of face alternating around each vertex. A regular polyhedron is a uniform polyhedron which has just one kind of face. The remaining (non-uniform) convex polyhedra with regular faces are known as the Johnson solids. A polygon having regular triangles as faces is called a deltahedron. See also *Tiling by regular polygons *Platonic solids *Apeirogon - An infinite-sided polygon can also be regular, {∞}. *List of regular polytopes *Equilateral polygon References * *Grünbaum, B.; Are your polyhedra the same as my polyhedra?, ''Discrete and comput. geom: the Goodman-Pollack festschrift, Ed. Aronov et. al., Springer (2003), pp. 461–488. *Poinsot, L.; Memoire sur les polygones et polyèdres. J. de l'École Polytechnique 9 (1810), pp. 16–48. External links * *Regular Polygon description With interactive animation *Incircle of a Regular Polygon With interactive animation *Area of a Regular Polygon Three different formulae, with interactive animation *Renaissance artists' constructions of regular polygons at Convergence ar:مضلع منتظم bg:Правилен многоъгълник de:Polygon#Regelmäßige Polygone es:Polígono regular eo:Regula plurlatero fr:Polygone régulier ko:정다각형 it:Poligono regolare hu:Szabályos sokszög mk:Правилен многуаголник nl:Regelmatige veelhoek ja:正多角形 km:ពហុកោណនិយ័ត pl:Wielokąt foremny pt:Polígono regular ro:Poligon regulat ru:Правильный многоугольник simple:Regular polygon sl:Pravilni mnogokotnik fi:Säännöllinen monikulmio vi:Đa giác đều zh:正多边形 Category:Polygons